CSU head football coach Jim McElwain greets players from left Davis Burl, Lee Clubb (cq) and Austin Gray as they run onto the practice field to begin the first day of fall football practice in fFort Collins, Colo. Saturday August 4, 2012.

BOULDER — Preparing a college football team for a season opener is challenging enough. Throw in the additional variable of facing a first-year coach such as Colorado State’s Jim McElwain, and it’s just something more to think about. And fret about.

For example, which opponent game films does a team analyze?

“It’s tough,” said CU senior defensive tackle Will Pericak. “With the first game of any season, you never know what they’re going to run. But going against a new coach, it’s a whole different ballgame. You have no idea what they’re going to run.”

Saturday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, CSU’s McElwain becomes the first of six first-year coaches on Colorado’s 2012 schedule — half of CU’s opponents for the regular season.

Yes, that’s five new opposing coaches in Colorado’s first six games. CU coach Jon Embree must hope this is a once-in-a-coach’s lifetime nightmare.

“We’re probably going to have to make adjustments on game day, as for what Colorado State does,” Embree said. “You have to have a lot of flexibility in your game plans. It’s definitely a challenge. But you have to just be ready to adapt and go play.”

In preparing for Colorado State, the Buffaloes have looked at some film of Alabama, where McElwain was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2008 through the Crimson Tide’s victory in last season’s national championship game.

But new CSU offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin has made a dozen stops during his 33-year coaching career, the most recent at Utah State (2009-11).

Alabama ran a rather standard pro-set offense, while Utah State favored the spread formation.

“We’ve looked at a lot of everything,” said CU defensive coordinator Greg Brown. “We’ve looked a lot of Utah State tape. With Jim McElwain and Dave Baldwin, you’re talking about two tremendous offensive minds. They have a proven track record. They know what they’re doing. They know how to attack defenses.

“To think about putting those two minds together, it’s a scary thing for us. As an offense, CSU could come out in anything.”

Colorado offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy faces a similar challenge. CSU has co-defensive coordinators. Marty English came from Wyoming (2003-11) and Al Simmons most recently was at Texas-El Paso (2011) and California (2008-10). Before Saturday’s game against CSU, Bieniemy said he will have reviewed film of last year’s Wyoming, UTEP and California defenses.

“You have to find out where they’ve coached, where they’ve worked, and try to get a feel for the scheme,” Bieniemy said.

Perhaps half-joking, McElwain said CU defensive coaches will have to go back to his days at Eastern Washington (1985-94) and Montana State (1995-99) to study what CSU is offensively.

“Or maybe a little more Louisville (2000-02),” McElwain said. “It’s all based on who you have (on the coaching staff). I didn’t put my name on some system. The system has been learned from different guys who have done it, trial and error.

“But that’s the least of my worries. The worries are: How do you play? How do you perform as a player? How are you focused? That’s what we really concern ourselves with. I’ve never gotten caught up in, ‘I hope they don’t know what we’re doing.’ “

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